Some of you might know that I have a ridiculously vast range of tastes. It stretches from hammering electronic beats over filigree neo-classical compositions to heavy gunfire of death and black metal. I previously already explored some of these musical fringes:
Janosch Troehler
However, for Weekly5, I mostly stick to digestible indie sounds—sometimes more electronically, sometimes more on the rocky side. The most extreme examples last year have probably been Zeal & Ardor's Church Burns and Obsessed To Forget by benzii and FLUCC.
Nevertheless, for those of you who enjoy the epic brutality of shredding guitar and blasting double bass drums, this collection of five songs I discovered and immediately loved in 2022 might be worth your time.
Lorna Shore – Cursed to Die
The conviction deployed by US-based Lorna Shore is irresistible. Their combination of melody and extreme brutality of core, death, and black metal hammers down like a thunderstorm, overwhelming like the apocalypse, announced by the striking force of Will Ramos' voice. Cursed to Die is mercilessly precise and full of rage, a destructive force that leaves no room to breathe.
FJØRT – lod
The wall built by the German post-hardcore alchemists at FJØRT in lod is out of this world: It's an inevitable steamroller, so dense and heavy like lead that it seems almost impossible that only three men generate this sound. The trio's riffs build a monolith that crushes everything in its path, while the distorted guitars and the pounding drums create a relentless rhythm. The vocals' desperate cries add a haunting atmosphere to the song, a sense of despair from which there is no escape. The aggressive assault renders you shell-shocked.
Zeal & Ardor – Götterdämmerung
Zeal & Ardor's self-titled third album is a fierce collection, and Götterdämmerung is at the peak of sonic aggression. The soul-shattering screams by Manuel Gagneux and the mercilessly precise percussion by Marco von Allmen make it one of the most extreme metal songs I've ever heard. It's a genuine battle cry, a thunderous anthem that will leave you speechless.
MØL – Jord
Discovered thanks to the program of the venue Gaswerk in Winterthur, Switzerland, the Danish post-black metal quartet MØL quickly became a cornerstone of my playlist. Jord from their 2018 album starts with a haunting guitar melody, chopped up by a slow rhythm. But after two minutes, the song transforms: It picks up the pace and becomes stunningly ecstatic and driven.
Summoning – Land Of The Dead
The Austrian duo Summoning has been active since the early 90s and has become a cult name in the black metal scene—also because of their refusal to play live. Their epic and hymnic journey of Land Of The Dead, which we listened to regularly in our Dungeons and Dragons sessions, takes you on a trip, a harrowing expedition into a land of darkness and despair. Especially when the choir comes into play, Land of the Dead becomes deeply ritualistic.
